


Now Hiring: Smiley Faces

by all_the_angels



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: I need sleep, M/M, Walgreens, emojis, i love tagging nonsense, smiley faces
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 12:01:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8101660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/all_the_angels/pseuds/all_the_angels
Summary: "Hey, I saw a sign outside that said you're hiring smiley faces?"





	

**Author's Note:**

> This weekend I took a long trip and we passed by a Walgreens. I saw this sign out front that said "Now hiring smiley faces!" and this instantly came to mind. Somebody save me. XD Lol. 
> 
> Does this even make sense???

\---

Although he'd rather work somewhere else - preferably the record store down the street that practically called out his name every time he walked by, begging him to come in for even just a quick minute - he couldn't say that his job was boring. In fact, it was anything but.

In the half year that Patrick had worked at Walgreens he'd seen some pretty spectacular spills of shampoo and lotion (in one case, three teenage girls had spilled a very expensive bottle of nail polish and then fled without telling anyone, leaving him to clean the four-hour dried mess off the shelves), caught someone trying to shoplift a family-sized pack of mini candy bars, and people losing their children who always happened to be wherever the toys were located. 

Normally he worked at the checkout counter, but occasionally he would do other jobs when they were short on workers such as restock, sweep the floors, or help people find the things they were looking for (half the time they never looked up at the helpful signs that told what could be found on each aisle).

Today, though, was a day he was assigned to the checkout counter, where the least exciting things happened. That is, until a guy walked through the door.

Yes, a lot of guys had walked through the door that day, now that is was nearing three in the afternoon, but this one caught Patrick's eye. He was wearing a grin as wide as the mouth of a river, making the skin around his eyes crinkle and his whiskey brown eyes glisten. He had black hair with the ends dyed sharp red, wore a dark red hoody and tight, wrinkled jeans with rips around the knees. Yes, he most definitely caught Patrick's eye as he stepped through the doors of the convenient store.

Looking around, he finally turned in Patrick's direction and, though Patrick didn't believe it to be possible, his grin grew bigger. Before the cashier could tear his gaze away, the guy with the smile strode toward him, reaching his counter in less than five seconds.

"Hey, I saw a sign outside that said you're hiring smiley faces?" 

It took a moment for Patrick to remember the sign that had been taped to the windows of the store. His best friend Joe, who also worked at Walgreens, had made the sign in desperation, complaining that they needed more employees and insisting that the sign would bring in people who would smile at the customers and work properly. In his opinion, Patrick thought it was ridiculous and childish. Smiley faces? Seriously? But no one asked for his opinion, so he'd kept his mouth shut and watched at Joe plastered the sign wherever he felt that it needed to be. Meaning all the windows. And the door. And in between items on shelves, or stuffed into bags of prescribed medicine.

"Y-Yeah," Patrick silently cursed himself for stuttering in front of the cute man. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, are you looking for a job?"

Smiling guy (who would really make a great employee with his bright-as-a-spotlight smile and casual friendliness that Patrick was unexplainably drawn to) shrugged and continued looking at the man behind counter. His gaze traveled from Patrick's face down to his where his pants were cut off from sight because of the counter. 

"Actually, a close friend of mine has been looking for a job ever since his boss fired him for painting the boardroom bright pink," the guy chuckled, his gaze returning to Patrick's face. "He's very good with people, and" He leaned in, "he loves smiling. So . . . maybe I could bring him in tomorrow to see about a job?"

Patrick's face went from a faint red blush (because come on! This hot guy was checking him out! Him, of all people!) to suddenly eager. "That'd be great. We don't have many workers here, we're always looking for more."

"Perfect! Then I'll stop by tomorrow and see if he likes it here. I have a feeling he'll match all the requirements you have for this kind of job." He winked and turned, leaving before Patrick could say another word.

That's all. He didn't stop to grab something or to pick something up. He'd only come to see about a job for his friend. Well. That was . . . nice of him?

Patrick decided to forget about the guy with his soft brown eyes, the obviously fit body, and cutest smile ever to show on the earth. But, if you couldn't guess, his traitorous mind decided that it would continue thinking about him. And that's exactly what happened: he never left Patrick's thoughts, not even when he finished his shift and was back at home, laying in bed and staring up at the ceiling. And Patrick certainly didn't dream of those perfectly shaped lips on his own.

\---

The next day Patrick gratefully accepted the position as cashier at the counter. After all, he wanted to see when the smiling guy came in, both him and his friend. Yes, he wanted to see his friend, especially. To possibly hire and help balance out the shifts between the too few workers in the store and possibly give him more time for working on his music. He definitely was not excited to see the man who had NOT taken over his thoughts for the rest of yesterday and the entirety of that morning. 

Around the same time as yesterday, in came the guy Patrick had been waiting for, grinning and his eyes laughing silently. God, he was just a big ball of perfectness in human form. Behind him he was holding something, hiding it as he stood right inside of the store and glanced around again. As happened the day before, he spotted Patrick and walked over, nearly tripping from whatever was hidden behind his back. 

Patrick had to bite his lip to keep a delighted smile rising on his own face and glanced over the person's shoulder, searching for their friend who was looking for a job. No one was there except a few people walking around the perfume stand, and they weren't looking in his direction. His face contorted with confusion.

"Hey, Patrick," said the grinning guy, gesturing to his name tag on his shirt. "Are you still hiring smiley faces today?"

"Yes, we are," Patrick waved his hand to the empty air around them. "Where's your friend? I don't see anyone."

"Oh, you want to meet him!" With an awkward, one-handed finger drumroll on the counter, the man pulled from behind his back . . . a tall cardboard tube around his height with a large smiling emoji taped messily to the top. 

The guy's face was going to split if he grinned any more. He put the emoji to shame for sure. "Ta da! This, my friend, is Derrick! And I think he'd fit in perfectly here! He always smiles, loves to help customers, and never back talks when given orders!"

Sensing Patrick's confusion still, the guy cheerfully said, "The sign says you're hiring 'smiley faces'. You know, like, these kind of things? And I thought it would be funny if I . . . you know, did this. Get it?"

After a moment, Patrick nodded and couldn't help the smile that came onto his own face. A second later, the person across the counter began to laugh.

"Yeah, so, that's all." He picked up the cardboard tube and placed it on Patrick's side of the counter. "Give him a try, at least. I think you'll find he excells magnificently at his job."

The smiling guy spun around and walked out, leaving Patrick to smile at his back. Turning, he stared at the large, round emoji mounted onto the tube. Giving a shrug, he grabbed it and placed it next to his side. I mean, what harm could it do to the business? It was actually a pretty cute idea. And it was from the really cute guy, so Patrick wasn't going to just dispose of this piece of artwork.

Bending down to position it better, something on the back of the smiley face's head caught Patrick's eye. He bent it forward slightly to the lights of the ceiling to find words scrawled in handwriting.

'I hope you found this joke as funny as I did. If not, you can do away with Derrick. Just saw your sign and thought of this. Lol.  
Btw, call me sometime and we can talk about me actually getting a job there someday? I'd love to work with someone as adorable as you. ;D

-Pete'

Patrick grinned and set the cardboard tube back in place. And now his own facial expression matched the one of the cut out smiley face beside him.

 

\---

**Author's Note:**

> Yo, thanks for reading this. It means a lot! <3 :D 
> 
> Also, I had a dream a week or two ago with Ryan Ross in it. Weird, but wonderfulllllllll. Hehehe.


End file.
